


a dark world we explore together

by clizzyhours



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alcohol, F/F, Futuristic Sci-Fi, I am literally making it up as I GOOOO, Language, Maia's POV, Typical Shadowhunter Racism / Sexism / Etc, Violence, WIP, World-building (kind of!!), claia, i really don't know what to tag this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2020-07-28 05:42:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20058964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clizzyhours/pseuds/clizzyhours
Summary: Clary Morgenstern is a rogue huntress after the exposure of her entire family's bloodline to the vast Shadow World, fleeing from many enemies. Maia Roberts is a hard-worker bar-tending werewolf who desperately wants to go to college for Marine Biology and free herself from her inner-demons. OR A SPACE CLAIA AU :“Maybe you should come and find out?”Maia blinks and smirks.“Are you offering?”The red-haired woman says, “I am Clary and I guess we shall see.” She wears her own returned smirk.





	1. what we make of ourselves

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Free Space.  
team Orange baby. <3  
warnings: alcohol. violence. fighting. weapons. general shadow world racism/sexism/homophobia/etc. if i am missing anything, feel free to let me know.
> 
> thank you so much and enjoy reading!

The club is loud and pulsing, neon lights flashing in the hazy atmosphere. Beer bottles clang, ringing loudly through the music that Maia overhears with her keen werewolf senses.

She’s behind the bar, carefully cleaning liquids that drunkards and men half her age keep knocking down. It’s wet and gross and personally, this is the worst aspect of the job.

Scratch that. No. Dealing with handsy older men, Shadow Soldiers from the Clave Organization, and general racism, sexism, and homophobia from all of them are the absolute worst part of this job.

You’re doing this for the money, she repeats to herself as mantra. And really? She is.

Maia was offered a generous sum of money to bar-tend on this luxurious ship tonight by a M. Bane. A mysterious benefactor, she has heard whispers of in and out of parties. She couldn’t refuse as she desperately needs the money for college.

She swipes again and tosses the raggedy wipe into the garbage disposal. Her shift isn’t over for a quite a bit of time.

The music is loud and she shifts her focus to grab some ridiculously long name of an alcohol drink to mix and make for the annoying customer sprawled across the stool, whining in a falsetto voice.

It’s been a very long night and she’s stuck here. She remembers this one class she loathed in high school, sitting in an upright chair, fingers tapping away at a HaloKeyboard as the instructor droned on and on and on about the most boring history lessons in the world.

Her HaloScreen had been a lifesaver to starve away the boredom. Even looking at the clock did not pass the time away.

In a spur of a moment, she tops the glass off with a spritzer and pastes a wide smile as she hands off the drink to the irritating customer.

The customer mumbles out a bleary thank you and frankly, she’s surprised. That’s more of a genuine thank you she has received all night so far.

She returns back to her tasks at hand, losing herself in the thrum of music and a cacophony of noise.

The neon lights flicker again and she turns around to see a flash of red. A trick of her eyes, she muses.

Again. The lights flicker and she sees brilliantly red hair this time, a flash of stark runes, and a god-awful latex leather costume. A woman.

Maia peers forward, green eyes taking over for a brief second as she scans the busybody of dancing people. She sees the woman making her way into the crowd, ducking in and out of sight like a phantom.

The woman cunningly maneuvers. She’s like a dancer in action, movements fluid as she switches from floor to floor with precise excellency when the strobe lights change color.

Hmm, she thinks.

Rather unusual, she supposes. It’s a luxury cruise ship and people, creatures, and Shadow Soldiers alike are often lost in a world of euphoria and secrets.

The red-haired woman moves again, slinking into the shadows.

Maia watches with scrutinizing eyes. 

She sees a mere shadow at the arch of the entrance, the steel doors sliding open to reveal a presence.

They lurk and follow into the crowd of people, losing themselves.

A red alert is pinging at her and yeah, she’s concerned now.

She can feel claws beginning to grow and so she flashes her eyes, venturing out from the bar area. People surround her everywhere and she follows the mysterious people into the dancing crowd.

The figure is like a ghost and so she follows.

The red-haired woman is moving faster now and she recognizes the instant connection. 

Yeah. She’s absolutely not a fan of creepy stalker-y men.

“Hey!” She snarls and pushes the figure up against the wall when they move closer to the enigma of a woman.

“I don’t think so,” Maia tightens her grip against the figure with her werewolf strength. 

The figure is completely silent and she looks at thick material they are wearing. A pinpoint of an object is partially shone from the sleeve and her eyes narrow.

All of a sudden, she finds herself on the ground with a flurry of red hair nearly in her mouth.

“What?” She questions. Her eyes blink slowly.

“Watch out!” The enigmatic red-haired woman shouts to the crowd as they begin to look up with hazy eyes.

A look of panic is evident on her face and the sea of dancing bodies comes to an abrupt stop.

Maia glances at the warm body on top of her and murmurs, “What?” 

The figure is lightning fast with quick reflexives, unsheathing their cloak.

Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit.

A Shadow Drone. A metallic creature that unfolds from the said object and expands itself with vicious claws, alight with power and designed by the Clave themselves.

Or Valentine Morgenstern, who lead an uprising against Downworlders over twenty years ago but that story isn’t quite relevant in this exact moment.

A scream breaks the room and suddenly, people are moving herd-like.

The drone keeps expanding and rotating, letting out a whirring motion.

Maia feels herself being tugged by her savior into the shadows as the woman throws an electrum weapon into the socket of the drone. 

Maia is not one to back from action so she leaps into the fray, bringing her claws against the wiring circuit.

The Shadow Drone lets out an interesting shriek and she dodges the sudden whirl of a tentacle.

The fuck, she thinks.

The woman is moving fluidly and weaving in and out of the last remaining crowd. She throws another dagger into the drone and flickers of electricity go off.

Maia has no fucking clue what this thing is anymore. An advancement? The Shadow Drone only gets used for extreme cases, according to the Clave Organization. But this?

This is nothing like she has ever seen before.

The woman, however, seems to be knowing what she is doing.

She brings down another weapon and aims straight for the machine’s circuit. The drone seems to be sparking off, shutting down slowly as colors whirl and whirl across the drone.

The drone falls to the ground in a collapsed pile of tools and circuits and parts.

“What the fuck was that?” Maia blurts out.

She’s pretty sure her shift is over now so hey, it’s the little things

The woman blinks at her with big green eyes and says, “We don’t have long before it’s up and moving again.”

“Okay, but what was that?” Maia insists, gesturing to the depleted Shadow Drone.

“An advancement of sort. It’s something high-tech and new,” The woman murmurs. She’s slinking in a circle, appraising the machine with studious eyes.

Her high-tech runes shine under the light. A common appearance of Shadow Soldiers and yet the woman doesn't quite strike her as a typical one. She's too rouge-like.

She’s kneeling down and her latex costume squeaks with the motion. Maia huffs a small laugh.

The woman turns a non-intimidating glare at her and she’s reminded of an angry kitten. 

“What?” She demands.

“Your costume, is uh, quite something,” Maia says, laughing louder now as the earlier danger fades to a temporary halt.

The woman looks half-mortified now. “It’s for practical reasons.”

“Practical reasons?’ Maia laughs again. “You look uncomfortable as hell in that tight costume.”

The woman frowns.

“It’s work-related,” The woman murmurs this time.

“I knew the Clave was misogynistic as hell, but this might be a new low,” Maia comments.

“I don’t work for the Clave,” She answers, her eyes narrowing. Her features remind her of angry kitten again but it works for the red-head in a cutesy type of way.

“You wear their Runes,” Maia points outs, still thinking. 

“And?”

“But then again, you don’t fight like one of them. You also actually expressed concern for everyone around you,” Maia marvels.

“I am my own person,” The woman says instead.

“Hmm. You definitely don’t work for the Clave. So who or what are you?” A new illuminated light has been shed and now Maia is deeply intrigued.

The woman spells trouble and yet.

“Maybe you should come and find out?” 

Maia blinks and smirks.

“Are you offering?”

The red-haired woman says, “I am Clary and I guess we shall see.” She wears her own returned smirk. 

“Nice to meet you, Clary. I wish it were under different circumstances.” Maia kicks a loose metal roll with her foot and it arcs against the ship’s interior. A flicker of light begins to illuminate and she staggers away. 

“We should go,” Clary murmurs, glancing at the Shadow Drone again. She brings her knife down a few more times until the circuit flashes black again.

"A temporary fix."

Maia simply nods and follows her out. 

She doesn’t quite know what she has gotten herself into, but she’s wary and weirdly excited about finding out.

The red-haired woman named Clary is reminiscent of a storm and so Maia follows the hurricane of a woman.


	2. discovery.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maia and Clary argue before coming to an agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a quick mention of anxiety / panic attack so please look out for that!

Maia isn’t quite sure what to make of the rogue hunter.

They are on the hunt, sliding in between spaces and dodging metallic energy radiating.

She didn’t quite plan on following her as it wasn’t exactly in the cards but everything she has known is long gone and the future is uncertain anyways.

Maia is long used to traveling and being on the move, running from ship to ship as a bartender or caterer or other jobs that will give her the cash she desperately needs and wants.

She hasn’t ever quite stopped running and her mind flashes back to him -

she can’t, she can’t, she can’t and so she breathes in and out, inhaling and exhaling to calm her racing heart before a full-blown panic attack can overcome take her.

Clary is crouching again, her latex outfit squirming movement wise. She can’t help but distastefully glare again.

“That outfit is unpractical as hell,” Maia blurts out.

Clary rolls her eyes and says, “I think we’ve established your opinion on my outfit already despite me not knowing your name.”

“It is Maia and I am really not trying to judge but my god, you look like you have been ripped out of fanboy’s anime wet dream and not in a fun way.”

She knows a man designed Clary’s outfit. She just knows it. 

Clary flushes, bites back a sharp retort and looks down at the ground with keen eyes, continuing her scrutiny.

“Moving on,” She says instead, fingers twirling a flashy tool of sorts.

“What is that?” Maia asks abruptly.

“You ask a lot of questions, huh,” Clary murmurs lazily.

“Is it so wrong to be curious about the woman who saved me?” Maia jabs.

And well, Maia cannot help but want to provoke the mysterious woman.

“I am not the one who chose to follow me,” She says, craning her head to look at Maia.

Maia gapes. “ ‘We should go’ is I quote what you said to me earlier.”

“I was only teasing and I didn’t specify for you to follow me technically. I meant go our separate ways. It wasn’t safe and it’s still not safe now,” Clary says, scanning and picking up the fragment from the ground.

“And god, what are you even doing right now, here on this godforsaken floor?”

Clary ignores her instead, choosing to keep scanning and analyzing.

“It’s a Shadow Drone fragment. It’s different from anything I have ever seen,” Clary suddenly blurts, her eyes widening as her scanner wails.

The sound is loud, screeching and it makes Maia want to clamp her hands over her keen ears.

Her eyes watch the electrical lines on the fragment spark and Clary gasps, dropping the piece with a large clatter. Her Runes shimmer, coming to life and Clary winces, immediately slamming her hand against one of her marks.

“Are you okay?”

“I am grand,” Clary hisses, her voice laced with tension. 

She’s still watching Clary but a reckoning sense dawns upon them.

The piece seizes, twisting onto itself and Maia senses ozone. 

Yeah. This is about to be hell. Damn the Clave to hell, she snarls angrily to herself.

Maia yanks Clary out of the way, their bodies rolling several feet away as the former Shadow Drone piece explodes. She huddles over Clary protectively, eyes shutting as the world ricochets.

The air reeks of smoke and fire, heavy and ominous.

She can’t help but think about how close she is to Clary, bodies so very near and the sheer almost intimacy of this position.

Maia can’t help but feel scandalizes with herself. It’s not the time or place to think about -

She wants waits a few minutes before moving, afraid of the heavy essence of smoke pulverizing around them but Clary is already moving, brushing against her skin just so as she blinks and stands up. 

Don’t think about it, don’t think about pretty women and how much a quick brush of a finger against Maia’s body makes her want to seep into a puddle and disappear.

“How did you know?” Clary whirls around, hair cascading around her like a fiery angel. She has stopped wincing, fired up and radiant.

“The smell.”

Clary blinks again and murmurs quietly, “I didn’t smell anything, how is that possible..and the pain I felt..”

“I have my ways,” Maia murmurs and gets up herself.

Clary sends her a curious look but surprisingly stays quiet.

She feels shaky, light as a feather and almost slumps back to the ground until she feels a cool touch against her hand, steadying.

Clary.

She helps Maia anchor herself and Maia cannot help but feel warm.

“Are you okay?” Clary asks softly. Shouldn’t Maia be asking Clary that?

A quiet almost, a kind of moment runs between them and - 

she isn’t prepared to deal with that right now. Maia lets her earlier worry drop for a brief moment. 

There will be time to investigate Clary later because hell to high waters will she discover and unravel the enigma huntress.

She’s Maia fucking Roberts and she will not let herself be fooled by anyone.

“Yeah, yes,” Maia manages to get out, gently pulling away from Clary and glancing at the black remnants burnt among the ship.

“We should go,” She says and Clary nods, quiet as a mouse for once.

“There’s nothing I can do about this,” Clary says at last, her eyes looking away from the explosion aftermath.

Maia cannot help but want to stay. With her. It’s strange and terrifying but like a mystery, Maia clings onto answers fiercely.

If Clary doesn’t know what this is, what does this mean for the rest of them?

And just who exactly is Clary?

And well, Maia, has always been sucker for adventure and stories. 

She doesn’t know why but she feels like she is meant to be here.

And well, after what they just experienced? Like hell if Maia would turn around and flee.

It would be safer, yes but Maia has always been the one to run and this time, this time she desperately wants to stay.

They walk until Clary stops at a hatch. “It’s an emergency exit. We will be able to find port and make our way out.”

“We, huh?” Maia teases.

Clary flushes and it’s a beautiful sight, Maia thinks, letting the thought drift before focusing again.

“I don’t mean to presume,” She begins before Maia laughs and cuts her off.

“Please do because you’re stuck with me.”

Clary looks like she wants to argue but keeps her lips closed, gazing at Maia with such seriousness.

“If I let you stay with me, do you have any idea what you are getting yourself into?” Clary asks. “And I mean truly.”

“Honestly? No. Here’s what I see and know. You know things. I know things and we have stumbled upon something big.”

“Things?” 

“Yes; things.”

Clary sighs and acquiesces.

“If you’re sure.”

“Probably not but I know that you’re stuck with me and I with you.”

“Flattering,” Clary says with an eye roll.

“I am a flatter after all,” Maia says, grinning brightly.

“I know a place we can go,” Clary murmurs and Maia can’t help but eye her.

“Is it safe?”

“I don’t think anywhere is safe nowadays but for now, it will provide us with temporary shelter.”

Hmm, Maia muses.

“Let’s go then,” She says, making her way into the emergency exit and climbing down the ladder against the side of the ship. 

She lands elegantly on her feet against the metal port.

Maia watches Clary follow out next and goddamn it, she still really hates that fucking suit.

“I know that look.”

“What look?”

“It’s the look you give my outfit because you want to burn it.

“So badly,” Maia says.

“It’s my brother’s creation,” Clary says defensively.

“Why - “

“Don’t ask,” Clary says, a tinge of darkness growing inside her tone.

Maia knows not to push for more but she knows that type of tone well.

And it doesn’t mean good things.

Clary’s brother is not someone to be trifled with, she cannot help but note distastefully.

She changes the topic and asks, “Where do we go from here?”

“Into the port’s City. We’re meeting some old friends.”

“The supposedly safe ones?”

“Nowhere is safe but this is what we have.”

Together, they walk, leaving behind the vast ship and head into the glorious city, the moons edging behind them like a beacon.

And somewhere, eyes lurk brightly and a circuit beeps.

“Showtime.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for rike. long overdue bby. to my loyal readers, thank you for your patience and i promise later chapters will be longer. next update will not be six months or more i promise.
> 
> thank you! please enjoy.


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